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Red Data Girl
Anime Review
I can never wear a watch. When I was in elementary school I tried for a while. The watch didn't even last a week before it was broken. In fact, anything that stays attached to my body eventually breaks because I'm quite the klutz and bang into stuff, which invariably breaks watches, phones, and anything that doesn't have the ability to grow back the way my skin does.
So, naturally I empathized with the main character of this series, who zaps any electronic item she touches.
Izumiko is a quiet, shy, mousey, ignorant, pathetic, sheltered hillbilly who has no idea of what's inside of her and what power it holds. She's grown up having everyone take care of her, so she's never done anything on her own. And this drives Miyuki, her newest protector, to teen-angst levels of frustration as he has to re-arrange his life to serve her. Of course, he doesn't know the whole story yet either.
 And, as Izumiko passes from middle school into high school, she's about to learn much about herself, and more about the spirit contained within her. But, evil forced are converging. Not just bad spirits, but those who might seek to control her and therefore control the powerful entity contained within.
Red Data Girl is a series that's difficult to define; it's a supernatural, creepy, slice of life drama that takes itself very seriously, proceeds at a slow, careful, delicate, you could almost say ponderous pace -- only to have the final few episodes cram a lot in to the point where you can barely follow what's going on. The thing is; Izumiko isn't completely aware of what's going on, and we, the audience only get to find out as she does herself, which leads us to spend time scratching our heads.
That said; this series is simply the finest bit of work you'll watch this year, the production itself is top-notch with just the right musical touches, beautiful scenery, charming and attractive character designs, good quality animation work, and deft direction that frankly, kept us on the edge of our seats for some episodes.
 The series is also uniquely Japanese -- many anime revolve around Japan, but they are western shows cloaked in a Japanese setting. This, however, is truely about Japanese mythology and spirits, with the High School students competing to become a 'World Heritage Candidate', which is something we've never heard of in the USA, but is a big deal in Japan. Even the title of the series is a Japanese allusion to a book about an endangered species. Because our girl here is one of those endangered.
If there's one thing wrong with this show, it's that it's not long enough! It really needed to be 26 episodes and is instead 13. That said; give this series a try, and you'll be rewarded with something you rarely get from anime anymore: a bit of an education and some some serious quality entertainment.
Review by Brian Cirulnick, July 2014
Below: Scenes from Red Data Girl.
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Below: Illustrations for Red Data Girl.
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